The way things weave their way into popular culture – it’s as much luck as it is skill.  The Smurfs were the creation of artist Pierre Culliford and first appeared in a Belgian comic book in 1958.  It wasn’t until the late 1970s that they randomly attracted the attention of several influential American TV folk and in 1981, an English-language cartoon series premiered on NBC as part of its Saturday morning kids programming.  There would be over 250 episodes in total, and the show can still be watched today in syndication.

Two live-action, Sony-produced Smurf movies were released in 2011 and 2013 but after the later underperformed at the box-office, relative to the original, the franchise was rebooted with a fully animated feature in 2017.  The rights were then transferred to Paramount Pictures in 2022 who are now having their first crack at the material.  It’s simply titled Smurfs and while it’s described as an “animated musical”, the number of keynote songs is low.  Story is given more prominence over the music.

Don’t get too excited though as the plot isn’t much.  The central character, voiced by Tony Award winner James Corden, is referred to as No Name Smurf.  While all other Smurfs have a designation based on their respective skillset, or lack thereof, No Name can’t work out his place within the community.  The obvious titles are taken (Brainy, Grouchy, Lazy) and even the obscure ones (Sound Effects Smurf) have been ticked off the list.  Guess it was bound to happen given the growing population as there’s only so many adjectives in the English language and jobs to be performed.  It’s an odd crux to build a film around.

No Name’s services will be called upon however when Papa Smurf (Goodman) is kidnapped by the villainous Razamel (Karliak), brother of the well-known Gargamel, and taken to another dimension.  He wants Papa Smurf to spill the beans about the location of a magic book which provides the holder with unlimited power.  We can’t have that… and so the Smurfs must team up to rescue their beloved patriarch before it’s too late.

I enjoyed the television cartoon series growing up but haven’t connected with any of the film adaptations.  You can therefore take my opinions with a grain of salt.  Perhaps it’s because I’m too old or perhaps it’s because the storylines are so uninteresting.  It’s a weird, chaotic narrative with a sci-fi, magic focus that struggles to generate humour and emotion.  We barely get to know the characters.  You can cast all the celebrities you want, such as Rihanna as Smurfette, but unless you’ve giving them something interesting to do, the movie won’t work.

Take the kids but don’t expect much.